Anonymity on the Internet

The Internet gives its users the freedom to communicate and express themselves in public while maintaining their anonymity, should they want to. In many countries, the protection of a user’s identity could mean the difference between life and death. In a democratic context, how important is it to ensure the right to anonymity, and how does this anonymity relate to freedom of speech and its protection?

The “Private and public on the Internet” cycle seeks to explore how we have come in recent years to attribute the features of a public place to the Internet. For better or worse, we tend to take it for granted that the freedoms, rights and obligations that govern our behaviour and relationships in public space apply, or at least should apply, as they stand in cyberspace. But is that actually the case?